


ivy

by nights



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25699921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nights/pseuds/nights
Summary: Sokka talks in his sleep, and lets something important slip.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 320
Collections: zukkanet event 01: song lyrics





	ivy

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the @zukkanet (on tumblr) Event 01: Song Lyrics. I chose the opening line from Ivy by Frank Ocean:  
> "I thought that I was dreaming / When you said you loved me"
> 
> That song just makes me yearn so hard, it inspired me to write this fluffy little one-shot.

The covers rustled, and Zuko heard someone’s voice. A mumble, a dream? He was asleep before, but not anymore. It sounded like a dream. He drifted toward sleep again.

But then there it was, the voice rousing him. Zuko woke up properly, this time, enough to remember that Sokka talked in his sleep. Zuko rolled over, turning to the sleeping man next to him. Sokka had kicked off the covers in the night, had buried his head in the pillows. Another few words came, garbled by the bedding.

They’d been sleeping over in each other’s beds for a few weeks when Zuko had discovered this particular habit of Sokka’s. He’d jolted awake to Sokka saying something about getting a better deal from a different shopkeeper, and he’d shaken Sokka’s shoulder. Zuko hadn’t appreciated the _thwap_ he got from Sokka’s arm flinging back at him, but Sokka had apologized with a kiss, and that was always enough for Zuko.

So Zuko knew better than to try to wake Sokka up. After all, he would usually shut up after a few minutes and Zuko could drift off to sleep again, tucking himself close to Sokka’s chest. The sound of Sokka’s steady breathing never failed to calm him.

“Shut up about the schedule,” Sokka mumbled, and Zuko had to stifle a laugh. “It’s mine.”

Zuko dozed, the dark shapes of Sokka’s face only distinguishable with Zuko’s head so close to his. Sokka groaned and squirmed in his sleep.

“You’re going to ruin everything.”

Zuko wondered whether he should rouse Sokka — was he having a bad dream?

“He’s… he’s. He’s not gonna want to go there.”

Sokka didn’t seem too distressed. Zuko reached out, just to touch Sokka’s arm lightly where it was curled around the pillows, not enough to wake him.

“But, but…”

Sokka was quiet for a while after that, and Zuko was close, so close to falling back asleep, and then —

“No!”

Sokka’s voice was loud and clear, jolting Zuko back awake. He moved to rouse Sokka, because damn it he’d had a long day and —

“But I love him.”

Zuko’s heart stopped.

“I love… he’s mine. You can’t… can’t have him.”

Zuko had to remind himself to keep breathing, his heart galloping out of nowhere. Sokka said it again, again…

“I love him… love him.”

Zuko’s chest clenched, and he didn’t want Sokka to stop saying it, but he couldn’t help but thread his limbs between Sokka’s and pull him close, tangled in the bedcovers. It woke Sokka, and he turned his head to the side, eyes bleary and confused.

“…Hmph? Zuko,” he mumbled, letting an arm rest across Zuko’s back.

“You were talking in your sleep again,” Zuko whispered.

“Mm, my bad. I woke you up.”

“’S okay.”

They settled in to a familiar position, comfortable from many nights of shifting to find the best way to hold each other. Zuko could feel the rise and fall of Sokka’s solid chest, and his eyelids grew even heavier, but he had to ask.

“What were you dreaming about?”

“Hm?” Sokka’s head rolled to the side.

“What were you dreaming about?”

“Oh. Dunno.” Sokka’s lips pressed against Zuko’s forehead, soft. “Something about a schedule? Jet was… messing with my plans, or something. I forget.”

Zuko hummed and returned Sokka’s kiss, right on his warm cheek. Sokka fell asleep long before he did; the echoes of _I love him_ kept Zuko wide awake, staring at the bedroom wall.

_I love him, I love him, I love him. He’s mine. I love him._

* * *

Sokka’s body shifting was what woke Zuko in the morning, when the sun was lancing in through the high windows. They’d slept in, but it didn’t matter. Neither of them had anywhere to be. Zuko cherished these days, when they could laze together like cats, drowsy and quiet.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” Sokka murmured into his ear. Zuko grunted in response. “Grumpyhead?”

Zuko cracked an eye open, squinting against the bright windows, and suddenly he remembered the night before. _He’s mine._

“‘M not grumpy. Just tired.” _I love him._

“Promise?”

“Yeah.”

Zuko buried his head in the crook of Sokka’s neck. Had he dreamed it? It would make sense… it had all been on Zuko’s mind lately, the way they’d hurtled far away from tentative glances and right into something big, something desperate, something that felt like diving off a cliff. Maybe he _had_ dreamed it. But he said it anyways, into the skin of Sokka’s shoulder.

“What?” Sokka asked, turning Zuko’s chin up with a finger.

“I love you, too.”

Sokka looked startled — _He dreamt it, didn’t he? Did Sokka not mean it?_ — then amused. A smile tugged at his mouth.

“Too?”

“You said it last night. In your sleep.”

Sokka laughed, and that always brought a blush to Zuko’s cheeks, especially this time, with Zuko’s heart laid belly-up like it was. He touched Zuko’s cheek, fingers brushing the bottom of his puckered scar.

“I probably did. Did I?”

Zuko nodded.

“Hmm. I let the cat out of the bag. Now you know my secret.”

“Your secret?”

“I’m a goner for you, jerkbender.”

Zuko buried his head in the pillows to hide his grin, and felt Sokka’s body roll on top of his.

“Did you hear what I said?” Sokka teased. “I don’t think you heard me. I’m stupid in love with you. Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Zuko couldn’t help but laugh as he wriggled out of Sokka’s grip. “I heard you, I heard you.”

Sokka’s eyes were especially blue that morning, catching the bright sun and lighting up. When Zuko was this close to him, and he really looked, he could see the little flecks of green that hid there. He had eyes like the sea.

“I’m stupid in love with you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave a comment if you liked it! :)


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